life

Dear Friends, Sun-glazed days are filled with the weight of time in Jamaica. Shortly after arriving from Brazil, a close friend’s father — Uncle Clyde — died. Thus, those who knew and loved him gathered almost nightly, to reminisce, commemorate, break bread…

Do you see what I see: white fluff floating off trees like light snow; an army of ants finding their way; blue-green aquamarine ocean approaching and retreating; a toddler losing himself in an ice-cream cone; bronzed tingling flesh stretching and…

If you journey to the top of the hill, you’ll find a curtain of trees. Thick, dark leaves, yards appearing impenetrable. Stop there. Be patient. When the wind sweeps the green aside, you’ll find a gate. Rap on it three times, the…

In front of Pastelaria Pau de Canela, a boy, in a tie-dye shirt, runs past the pigeons causing them to flutter, surge and fall. They move as one. The boy’s not running to anything or from anything; he’s not racing…

You said, “The body pays.” Oh new one– these ideas are for tomorrow. “When the head is convinced , the body suffers. Let it suffer. Let it suffer, if you’re liking it.” We imagined this moment since birth, but let’s talk about this tomorrow.

You need that summer, that early summer, of which you’ll recall you lived your life as a dream. You found that “impossible” was a myth– a foolish construct you made. On a cool day, when the seagulls swoop in easily,…

Dear Friends, There are children, in the courtyard, playing under a slate sheet of sky. They’re shouting, who knows what, and if I were eight or nine, though it’s almost freezing, I’d join them in their game of tag. Perhaps, their…

“Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are…” (Ash Wednesday…

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had,…